Magok lamb restaurant at opening time: rack and skewers, Hwarodam

If you're looking for a proper lamb restaurant in Magok, I'd love to recommend Hwarodam Yang Kkochi Magok, which I visited recently.

It's a newly opened branch, so the whole place felt clean and pleasant. With the food quality and service both satisfying, it felt like I'd finally found a lamb skewer place I really liked in a long while.

How do parking and reservations work at Hwarodam Magok?

Hwarodam Magok has basement parking in the building, so coming by car is easy.

We booked ahead on Naver and arrived right at opening time. The reserved table already had tableware and side dishes set out, so we could start eating right away.

The interior is spacious and comfortable, and the grill plates and tables were kept clean, so I was happy with hygiene too.

What we ordered on our first visit

Since it was our first time at Hwarodam, we ordered the signature dishes.

• 2 servings of sirloin lamb skewers
• 1 serving of lamb shoulder rack

What side dishes and sauces come at Hwarodam?

The basic side dishes at Hwarodam Magok were pickled celtuce (gungchae jangajji), white kimchi and scallion salad (pajeori), and even the free sides were satisfying.

• Pickled celtuce (gungchae jangajji)
• White kimchi
• Scallion salad (pajeori)

It was my first time getting scallion salad at a lamb skewer place, and it went really well with the meat.

Three sauces are provided, and each has a distinct personality. The special chive sauce brings out the flavor of the meat, the pickled chili sauce adds a clean heat, and the last special seasoning is so savory that you keep reaching for it.

What does the pre-seared shoulder rack taste like?

The lamb shoulder rack at Hwarodam comes pre-seared, and a staff member grilled it for us first. Because every cut is seared before serving, the smoky char flavor comes through naturally and I barely noticed any of that typical lamb gaminess.

Maybe because they use young lamb, the meat was quite tender, and juices flooded out with each bite.

Staff grill the shoulder rack for you, so there's no worrying about timing and you get it at its best. That was a big plus.

The golden-brown shoulder rack is good with just cumin, but personally the combo I found most memorable was topping it with the special chive sauce.

How are Hwarodam's sirloin skewers different from regular lamb skewers?

Hwarodam's sirloin skewers are their main dish: lamb sirloin cut into big cubes and threaded onto skewers. After the shoulder rack, we grilled these.

I'd assumed lamb skewers usually use a mix of cuts, but Hwarodam's signature is lamb sirloin trimmed into chunky cubes and skewered.

So there may look like fewer skewers than at a regular place, but the actual pieces of meat are much thicker and the weight is generous.

Set on the automatic rotator over charcoal, they cook slowly and evenly, so the outside is golden and the inside stays moist. One bite and the texture and flavor felt clearly more upscale than the lamb skewers I'd had before.

Tender and juicy, it's a taste that anyone who likes lamb should be happy with.

Was Hwarodam Magok worth the price?

This visit made it clear right away why Hwarodam is spreading by word of mouth.

Excellent pre-seared meat, the mild flavor of young lamb, friendly staff and a clean restaurant: nothing was lacking. Going by price alone it might feel a bit high, but considering the quality of the meat and how satisfied we were overall, it was a meal well worth it.

It was such a satisfying visit that I want to try the French rack next time. If you're after a special lamb restaurant in Magok, I confidently recommend Hwarodam Yang Kkochi Magok.